WoW Forever Q&A: regional GDKP rules, raid sizes and PvP

The September 17 Q&A announced a GDKP ban, alongside 10- and 20-player raids each tier and no rated PvP. An October 8 interview adds the regional limit: check it before planning a gold-bid loot run.

Blizzard has the official Q&A replay, while Wowhead’s liveblog provides a searchable breakdown of the Forever answers.

Original broadcast timing

The Forever segment began on September 17 at 10:30 a.m. PDT / 18:30 BST / 19:30 CEST. That was the Q&A start, not a beta-opening time; the beta followed the broadcast.

GDKP: check your region

September 17 announcement: Blizzard said GDKP would not be allowed in WoW Forever. The developers framed the decision around protecting guild and social structures, avoiding a high gold barrier to entry, and limiting the connection between GDKP economies and real-money trading.

October 8 clarification, REPORTED: In 4Gamers’ October 8 written interview, Clay Stone says the GDKP ban applies only to North America and Europe; other regions still allow GDKP.

Do not plan a GDKP run in North America or Europe. This regional distinction does not relax the separate rules against buying gold for real money; read the beta gold-buying policy.

The team also said it intends to actively monitor the economy and be much more punitive toward gold buyers. Blizzard did not specify automatic punishments or ban lengths in that recap.

Every tier gets 10-player and 20-player raids

Forever will not start with flex raiding. Instead, Blizzard said every raid tier will have both a 10-player raid and a 20-player raid, with a single difficulty for dungeons and raids.

Forty-player raids are still part of the plan, beginning with Onyxia’s Lair, but Blizzard said there will not be a 40-player raid in every tier. Cross-faction gameplay is also not planned for this version of Azeroth.

No rated PvP at launch

Blizzard said WoW Forever will not have rated PvP. The replacement direction is a PvP progression track that resets with each season or tier, alongside adjusted Honor gains intended to keep one activity from becoming the obvious grind.

A new Battleground with its own reputation is also planned.

Realmless does not mean regionless

Players choose a regional ruleset rather than a traditional named realm. Blizzard’s later ruleset guide clarifies an important limit: you cannot freely transfer between rulesets. A dead Hardcore character has a separate transfer exception. Check the ruleset FAQ before choosing where to play with friends.

Oceanic players are planned to run on Oceania data servers while sharing the wider US auction house. Blizzard also said full character names are region-wide identifiers: the second-name field is required, and the same full name cannot be reused across rulesets in the region.

Addons use the modern client API

WoW Forever will use the modern WoW addon API. Blizzard’s explanation was practical: sharing the modern client API should make addon support easier, while Forever’s encounter design remains much simpler than modern WoW’s highest-end content.

The player takeaway

The Q&A makes Forever’s endgame shape much clearer. Smaller guilds get a 10-player raid path every tier, larger groups get a 20-player path, 40-player raids remain occasional events, and PvP progression avoids a rated ladder. Use the later regional clarification when planning around the GDKP ban.

For beta access, dates and the public Server Slam plan, use the ForeverAtlas beta guide. For the broader design differences, see what changes from Classic.